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German Goldenshteyn: A Living Tradition

Master Moldavian klezmer clarinetist German Goldenshteyn, together with a hand-picked rhythm section of today's greatest Yiddish musicians, play 20 tunes from his staggering collection of over 800 bulgars, freylakhs, horas, khosidls and sirbas.

Genre: World: Yiddish

Release Date: 2006

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ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Just two weeks before this CD was to be officially released, German Goldenshteyn died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 71.
In the interim, the recording has garnered much critical and popular acclaim around the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, this CD is the product of the sheer joy, enthusiasm, and fun that can only come from cutting short lunches and dinners for four intense days, and sneaking into a hotel room with some of the world’s greatest klezmorim to just sit, roll tape, and play. And I mean “play” in every ear-to-ear-grinning, schoolyard-giddy sense of the word.

Yes, it was at the 21st annual KlezKamp festival in the Catskills that eight brave souls volunteered their precious time to pay homage to a true living master - klezmer clarinetist German Abramovich Goldenshteyn. Scheduling recording sessions around our teaching duties (read: in lieu of meals) we commandeered a room closed for repairs and set up our makeshift recording studio (so makeshift, in fact, that when Cookie's violin needed more isolation – we moved her into the bathroom!)

Just listen to Hank’s banjo act as a snare drum to Aaron’s poyk, or how Susan’s trumpet trades licks with Cookie’s fiddle and Josh’s accordion. No. Listen to the moment in “Tserenkutsa” (Track 16) when Rubinchik’s tuba stinger catches German off-guard and triggers his helpless laughter. (What’s really great is that, after some vodka and lunch at German's place in Sheepshead Bay, I played him the rough mix and he laughed at exactly the same point, in exactly the same way. “Oh, that Marik,” he said as he giggled and shook his index finger.)

By no means shall I attempt to provide a full biography of the guest of honor, but for the uninitiated, German Goldenshteyn brings with him a repertoire and a performance style missing in American klezmer music. Born in 1934, he lost his parents in the Holocaust and after the war, he and his siblings entered an orphanage in Odessa. As a young man, German successfully auditioned for the army band school, after which, he spent 10 years playing in military orchestras and completing his service.

German later studied at a technical institute in Kiev, earning an engineering degree, and became a machinist in the town of Mohyliv-Podilskyi in Moldavia. It was there that he met some older musicians at a Jewish wedding, and had another life-changing audition: the clarinetist of the wedding band handed him his horn and commanded, "play." As a result, from the mid 1950's until he came to the United States in 1994, German played thousands of simchas. He learned melodies quickly, but found he could not retain too many simultaneously. So, every time he learned a new song, he would write it down so as not to forget it. Over time, German managed "not to forget" more than 800 melodies, most of which have never been heard on this side of the pond. The 20 songs we present here make up one-fortieth (!) of German's repertoire, all of which will be published in new editions as part of our ongoing documentation of German's unique catalog of music.

On the topic of the recording, I have a few remarks. Though two clarinetists are credited, almost all of the time you are listening exclusively to German. What you are hearing is live in the purest sense: no rehearsing, no arranging, no overdubbing, and, at most, two or three takes on any tune (to be fair, an “arrangement,” as well as a chord progression, would materialize by the second take). German’s breathtaking phrasing, time placement, improvisations and variations in navigating the melody, remind me of the great clarinetist Sid Beckerman, with whom I also had the great privilege of studying at KlezKamp, and who also received most of his training on the bandstand. In fact, Sid's great recording "Klezmer Plus!" was recorded very much the same way we did ours.

We hope this recording will bring you some of the joy that playing German's music has brought us; and that it will bring German some of the recognition he deserves.
-Alex Kontorovich

I have great admiration and respect for Aaron Alexander, Josh Horowitz, Alex Kontorovitch, Mark Rubin, Henry Sapoznik, Cookie Segelstein, and Susan Watts and cannot thank them enough for their beautiful playing and hard work on this project. None of this would have been possible without the generous support of KlezKamp, Living Traditions, and Henry’s hard work in both organizations. I must thank Jeff (“King Django”) Baker for the wonderful job in recording us, and Alex for his tireless efforts in producing this album. An enormous amount of thanks is due to my good friend Michael Alpert, who was instrumental in my becoming known in this musical community. He took me and my repertoire to many festivals and concerts, from KlezKanada and the New England Conservatory to places like Toronto, Poland, and of course, all over the New York area. Lastly, I wish to thank my loving wife, Mina, for granting me permission to attend KlezKamp.
-German Goldenshteyn (Translated from the Russian by Alex Kontorovich)

Credits:

Produced by Alex Kontorovich

Recorded at KlezKamp 21, December 25-29, 2005
at the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa, Kerhonkson, New York

This CD is a wonderful treasure of the tunes German Goldenshteyn preserved in his rich musical life in the former Soviet Union. The recording is a jam session of contemporary klezmer greats, and it captures the spirit of friendship, musicianship, and collaboration that pervades KlezKamp and has enriched the lives of many German's friends.

German's subtle simplicity is shocking in it's reluctance to be centre stage.

I first heard of this giant of the klezmer repertoire after his death and was sad never to have heard his clarinet live.Later in Calgary a friend surprised me one evening by playing the recording done at KlezKamp '05 and I was crying by the 2nd cut-German plays clarinet almost reluctantly and it's probably because we in the west are so used to it being such an out-front instrument sound and he has this blend concept that is so beautiful with his ability to Ornament and Kvetch so softly that it is easy to miss the brilliance of his technique.The Jewish Polka and Gypsy tune were of particular interest to me.I am looking forward to seeing/playing his repertoire with my band KlezMerovitz here in Calgary Alberta for many years to come.Thank you German...

Recording on this CD was one of the greatest musical experiences of my life. German was a generous, loving and brilliant musician and the new worlds to which he exposed us is too great a debt to repay. His tragic untimely death makes this CD a bittersweet and invaluable document about the music and the man who brought it to us.

German was a sweet man and he cared deeply about his music. It shows on this recording. The melodies are presented simply and lovingly without a lot of arranging. But the musicians pay a lot of attention to detail without getting in the way of the melodies. I think that what keeps me listening to this CD is undercurrent of excitement that this CD was getting made and the desire of everyone to make sure that German's playing and his tunes would be heard clearly. So I keep coming back to listen to the CD because I can hear him (and Alex) play the melodies clearly, joyfully and honestly.

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